Though you can take a man away from his boat, you cannot take a boat out of the man… In these strange times when boaters are forbidden to visit their boats and navigations are effectively closed it’s hard to imagine a boating life… Had the initial plan for 2020 cruising proceeded, by mid-April Cleddau would have been on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. Instead, locked down in a Bedfordshire village, the Captain and Boatwif take comfort in their daily walk. There’s much to...

Boatwif caught the Captain looking back at the last blog entry a couple of days ago. It had been posted on January 18th, following a few special days in Pembrokeshire and a couple of nights (and two theatre productions) in Stratford-upon-Avon. That post finished with: ‘Now a germ of an idea has begun to form: wouldn’t a cruise down to Stratford and along the Avon be just the thing to look forward to later in the year…?’ Back at home...

When does a bad habit become a tradition? And when does a tradition give cause for celebration? To answer the first question (bad habit becoming tradition) the Captain would state 25 years. The 12 years or so of January visits to Stratford-upon-Avon then are still “bad habits”, albeit very enjoyable ones. At home there are theatre programmes from the Royal Shakespeare Company) retained from January 2009 onwards.  Hence the annual winter gazing over Bancroft Basin in Stratford, for only the...

Can a Boatwif report on a totally boat-free trip…? It had been the idea of Godmanchester Friend 2. “Lille,” he’d suggested back in October. “For the Christmas Market…?” Failing to find any serious objection to a fun-sounding plan the Captain and Boatwif agreed. As the designated day drew nearer unforeseen aspects became apparent. The 1104 Eurostar train from St Pancras (such a civilised time) would require a very early start. True, there is little daylight in mid-December but to leave...

Thanksgiving in Southern California was marked by rain, rain and more rain, by the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, televised across the nation from New York,        and then by a blow-out lunch. Gradually the rain lightened to short, sharp showers. By the afternoon of Black Friday pent-up energy needed to be spent… “Are you SURE you want to do this?” Cal Son asked as he outlined the options. “Peace and quiet at home for a couple of hours...

These  Thanksgiving trips to far south California encompass school runs and retail opportunities, leisure jaunts and visits to favourite haunts. There’s  childcare too, although it has to be acknowledged that the older two children now exceed Boatwif’s height by a fair margin – see photographic evidence at the end of the previous post. There was a soccer match to watch on Saturday on an arena pitch (plastic turf enclosed by a concrete wall and high netting). Cal Guy Jnr plays...

This week in Southern California it’s been a school week, though next week schools, colleges and the local university will be shut for Thanksgiving Break. Morning departures from home are staggered: Cal Gal leaves first at 0700 to walk to her middle school; Cal Guy Snr gets on his bike at about 0730 to cycle to high school (though it’s a later start on Tuesdays) and Cal Guy Jnr needs to be driven to his elementary school, to arrive between...

After the October trip to Scotland there was the pear harvest to attend to: The pears added a certain piquancy to a pork-based dish, became rather tasty chutney and provided a base for a vodka and vanilla spirit (yet to be tasted).     Then there was a trip north to check that the boat was afloat (which it was) and dry inside (it was).    On that same trip north there was an informal concert  played by the Cheshire One...

Sea, sheep and space – after a few days on and around the Black Isle those are the abiding impressions. Just where is the Black Isle? It’s in the north east of Scotland, a twenty mile long peninsula, surrounded by sea on three sides –the Cromarty Firth to the north, the Beauly Firth to the south, and the Moray Firth to the east. The sea is ever present: pop off the Black Isle, say to Dingwall (nearest supermarket) and you join the A9...